There are a good many more fragments of delightful humour to be found in the Bible, which, for lack of space, must be omitted here. Yet a brief reference should be made to some of the witty puns and plays on words (_ludus verborum_, or _Wortspiele_) that occur in the same sacred volume. In his well-known short poetical strain (comp. Book of Judges xv. 16), Samson, the noted wit of the Bible, purposely uses, as it would seem, the Hebrew term _Chamor_ (‪חמור‬), because it has two meanings, namely, an _ass_ and a _heap_. The humour of the Hebrew lines in question will at once be noticeable by the following rendering of them:— With the jaw-bone of an ass Have I plenteous asses slain: Smitten thus it came to pass Fell a thousand on the plain. A good pun may also be detected in the word _Ro_pheïm (physicians) and _Re_phaïm, which latter word signifies “corpses”; or in ‪שׁפֵט‬ “a judge,” and ‪טִפֵּשׁ‬, meaning “the stupid one.” Such and similar puns abound in the Bible as well as in the Talmud, as, for instance, the phrase found in the latter work: ‪אֱכוֹל בָּצֵל וְשֵׁב בְּצֵל‬ “Be satisfied with a _meal_ of _onions_, and enjoy living under the _shadow_ of thy own trees” (comp. Talmud, _Babyl. Pesachim_, 114 _a_); but no further specimens can be given here. These remarks will, it is hoped, help to show the wealth of hidden meaning contained in the Bible, which can only be detected by the study of the original Hebrew text, and which the translators, either through oversight or inability, have failed to reproduce. Footnotes: [3-1] The Hebrew term ‪משקרות‬ is probably derived from ‪שקר‬, meaning “false” or “deceiving.” [6-1] Cp. Eccles. v. 11. [8-1] Cp. Juvenal, _Satire_ 15:— “A sheep or goat they may not eat, but human flesh they may.” [8-2] Cp. Horace, _Carm._ iii. 23. 17:— Immunis aram si tetigit manus, Non sumptuosa blandior hostia Mollivit aversos Penates Farre pio et saliente mica. [9-1] Cp. Amos iv. 1. II THE BIBLE AND THE ANCIENT CLASSICS For several centuries past, previous to the middle of the eighteenth century, a general notion used to prevail that the contents of the Hebrew Bible consisted entirely of purely theological matter. This idea originated from the circumstance that most of the commentators of the Bible living in those times had treated it as a book that was full of religious mysticism, which theory had commonly been accepted by their readers as the only correct and plausible one.